East Cambridgeshire district councillors have voted in favour of a 24.4 per cent increase in their allowances.

The proposals will see councillors' basic allowance increase from £4,261 a year to £5,300.

It comes after a report by the Independent Remuneration Panel (IRP), which was brought to full council on July 13.

The authority says the suggestion has been made because of the decision in 2011 to reduce its allowances by 10 per cent to help slash its budget and the need to address the issue of only those who are retired or self-employed being able to afford to serve as a councillor.

There will also be a reduction in the number of councillors from 39 to 28, which will be implemented at the next district council election in 2019 which will increase demands on councillors resources.

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The panel said that for the amount of time councillors dedicate to their work they are barely achieving the national minimum wage of £7.20 per hour.

The report's authors, Richard Tyler (chairman), Richard Powell, Stanley Curtis and Margaret Clark, said: "Based on the national living wage currently set at £7.20 per hour, councillors are barely achieving the minimum wage for the level of time that they are spending on their duties for the complex, high profile and sensitive roles that they are undertaking.

"Many of the new councillors elected in May 2015, a large proportion of whom are younger and in employment, did not appreciate the level of time required to take their duties as a councillor and did not know what allowances would be paid to them.

"Some are now experiencing difficulties in fitting-in their councillor role with their other commitments which may mean that they are unable to serve as councillor for a second term."

Chairman of the IRP, Richard Tyler, said: “Our recommendations, including the change to the basic allowances of members, would go some way towards addressing the fact that East Cambridgeshire District Council’s allowances are lower than those paid by the majority of other councils both locally and nationally and this gap is widening.

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"Now that the council is more financially stable and has a balanced budget, this widening gap should be closed. We believe these recommendations will support the upcoming reduction of district council at the next district council elections and the recruitment and retention of a more representative cross-section of members.”

Members voted to approve the recommendations of the Independent Remuneration Panel (IRP).

The council also agreed to amend the annual venue hire costs allowance for members' surgeries to allocate up to a maximum of £100 per member towards the costs of hiring venues.

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Councillors also acknowledged that there will be a future reduction in the budget for members' allowances from May 2019 due to the reduction in the number of councillors from 39 to 28 as a result of the electoral review.